The Change
by Totally-Out-Of-It
Summary: Cooper was always picking at Blaine, until he found out Blaine was gay. It takes a group of strangers to show Cooper what really matters. Anderson brothers.


**The Change**

_Cooper was always picking at Blaine, until he found out Blaine was gay. It takes a group of strangers to show Cooper what really matters. Anderson brothers._

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It was no secret that Cooper Anderson was amazing. Everyone knew it. He'd been dancing and singing since the day he could walk and talk, and he'd been doing it amazingly. Really, Blaine should've been grateful that he had Cooper to teach him how to be amazing. Cooper had had to do it all on his own.

From day one, when his mother had come home from the hospital and all of their family and friends were invited over to see the baby, Cooper had known Blaine was special. He didn't cry the entire time they had guests over. And when Cooper was holding him and smiling down at him, Blaine laughed up at him with the brightest eyes Cooper had ever seen. Then he sang to Blaine, and Blaine made cooing noises back, in the tune of the song Cooper had sung. Cooper knew then that Blaine was a born performer.

So if he was a little hard on Blaine, that was OK. Blaine needed to be the best dancer on the street, next to Cooper that is. Blaine needed to perfect his singing, or at least become as good as Cooper was. Blaine was nowhere near ready to be a star, even at seven while they were performing for their neighbors to great acclaim. Cooper was amazing, but Blaine still needed work.

And Blaine was Cooper's little brother. It was Cooper's job to make sure his little brother's dreams came true, that he reached his full potential.

Blaine was thirteen, Cooper was home from college for the summer, when he dropped the bombshell on the family. Well, he dropped the bombshell on Cooper first.

"Hey, Coop, could I...talk to you for a minute?" Blaine asked, his voice shaking.

Cooper jumped up from the couch. "Sure thing, bud. But make sure you speak up stronger, louder. Whatever you're saying will come at me clearly if you do that."

Blaine nodded. "O-ok." He took a deep breath. "Cooper..." He locked eyes with Cooper for a moment, who still thought his little brother had the brightest eyes ever, and then quickly looked away. "I need to...tell mom and dad s...something...and I wanted your help when I do it." Blaine looked back up at Cooper, but didn't meet his eyes.

"Blaine, you've got to speak up. I can barely hear you," Cooper said, hands on his hips. It wasn't necessarily true. Blaine was loud enough to hear, but he was wispy. A performer couldn't be _wispy_.

A spark of annoyance lit Blaine's eyes. "Just-Just don't say anything for awhile, OK?" he asked, that annoyance seeping into his voice. "I'm trying to tell you something important here."

Cooper grinned and pointed at his brother. "See? That was much better. Loud. Strong. I can tell that what you're saying is import-"

"Dammit, Cooper, I'm gay!" Blaine practically shouted.

Cooper shut his mouth, his finger still pointing at Blaine.

Blaine took a few breaths and then slowly made his eyes meet Cooper's. "I'm...I'm gay. I like boys. I like boys how I should like girls. I can't help it. I just do. I think guys are more beautiful, more attractive, than girls. I'm gay," he forced out, and it felt like a bullet.

Cooper lowered his finger, slowly, to his side. He watched Blaine, who looked so nervous. He didn't know what he was looking for though. Was Blaine meant to look different now that he was gay? Or had he always been gay and had always looked like this? Was Blaine going to act differently, now that he'd had this epiphany of sexual orientation?

"Coop?" Blaine asked, his voice so quiet it barely brought Cooper out of his thoughts.

Cooper shook his head. "I'm not supposed to say anything for while, right?" he asked, his voice coming out flat. Blaine flinched. And yeah, Cooper felt a little bad about it, but he didn't know what to think; didn't know what to say. So instead, he sat back down on the couch and stared at the unlit fireplace in front of him.

Blaine stood next to the couch for a good minute, shaking worse by the second, before he turned and ran from the room. Cooper didn't want to think about why. He didn't want to think about what Blaine had told him. He didn't want to think about anything.

What was he supposed to do?

For a month, Blaine and Cooper didn't talk. Well, Cooper didn't talk. Blaine would walk into a room where Cooper was, stop and stare, open his mouth a few times, and then walk back out. Cooper barely acknowledged he existed. They didn't sing for their neighbors. They didn't sing for their parents. They didn't talk at dinner. For all intents and purposes, Cooper pretended Blaine didn't exist.

Their parents noticed, of course. They would have had to be blind not to. But all their mother said to Cooper was, "I can see you're struggling with Blaine. I know he's a lot younger than you, and that's hard. But I know you two will figure this out. You are brothers, after all." Their father left the issue alone, letting his wife handle it, and simply watched from the sidelines.

Blaine was starting high school in the fall. What would people at his new school think when they learned he was gay? What would the entire town, the state of Ohio, think? What was this going to do to his little brother's future? Would this hurt his dreams? How were things going to change now? In Ohio, would Blaine have a boyfriend? Would he fall in love? Cooper just didn't know if it was possible.

His thoughts on Blaine crept up on him at all hours of the day, even in his dreams. He couldn't read a book or watch TV without his thoughts inevitably drifting to what Blaine had told him. He couldn't shut his eyes without remembering that conversation. He couldn't even sing or dance because his head was too full of doubt. It was insane!

Blaine was changing, and he was changing Cooper too. And Cooper didn't like the change he saw in himself.

After a month of not speaking, Cooper still had no idea what he was meant to do with the information Blaine had given him. He had no clue how he was supposed to act around a gay guy. He went for a walk, unable to stand how confined his parents' house felt anymore. It was like he was suffocating on his own thoughts in there.

He wasn't expecting to find Blaine in the park, but there he was. He was standing with three other guys that Cooper vaguely recognized. They were Blaine's friends from middle school, all gangly with their growth spurts. Cooper couldn't remember Blaine being gangly, ever. He just grew proportionally, or something. He'd always been per-

One of the guys reached out and punched Blaine in the face. Blaine fell to the cement of the sidewalk and didn't get back up. He stared at the grey beneath his scraped hands and just sat there.

That wasn't the Blaine Cooper knew.

Cooper couldn't hear what the other boys were saying from this distance, but their faces were angry, disgusted. Cooper felt his blood boil. They were picking on his little brother and that was a definitely No No.

"Hey!" he shouted, running over. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

It seemed Cooper hadn't been around much when these boys were hanging out with Blaine, because there was no spark of recognition in their eyes when they saw him. They sneered and one of the boys, a brunette, pointed to Blaine on the ground.

"He's a queer!" he shouted, and it seemed Blaine shrank where he sat on the ground. "He said he likes dicks!"

"And you think that gives you the right to hit him?" Cooper demanded, stepping so that he was standing between his brother and these boys.

"He deserves it," another boy said, this one with red hair and freckles. "He's a fag."

Cooper glared. "So since you're a redhead, does that mean I can beat you up?"

"What?" the boy gasped. "No! What does my hair color have to-"

"Then don't think you can hit someone just because they're gay!" Cooper shouted, pointing at the boy. His finger nearly touched the kid's nose.

The last boy, a boy with brown hair to his shoulders, finally seemed to realize something. He pointed at Cooper just like Cooper pointed at his friend. "You're his brother!" The other two boys took a step back, but not the last boy. "You're only protecting him because he's family. You _have to_," he stated.

Even standing in front of Blaine, Cooper could tell that his little brother tensed at the statement. Suddenly it hit Cooper like a sack of bricks. This meek Blaine who didn't fight back, who thought he deserved to get hit, was Cooper's doing. Blaine had trusted Cooper with his secret, and Cooper had thrown it back in his face.

Cooper shifted his right foot forward just an inch. "I'm protecting him because he's a human being, and he deserves to be treated with respect. He's more talented than all of you combined. He's got bigger dreams than any of you could ever hope to have. He's going to go farther in one day then you will in your entire lives," Cooper stated, loud, proud, final. "Now scram before I stop holding myself back and give you the beating you deserve."

"You can't beat us up! We're just kids," the first boy stated, trying to sound tough.

Cooper smiled at him. "You think I care? Beating up a kid isn't a federal offense, and I don't live in this state, so they won't chase me across state lines. Just try me."

They were out of the park almost before Cooper had finished talking. As soon as they were out of sight, Cooper turned and knelt down next to Blaine.

"You OK, bud?" he asked. Blaine nodded, looking at Cooper uncertainly. Cooper held out his right hand. "Come on. We've got to clean you up before dad gets home. And do something about that right hook."

A spark returned to Blaine's eyes as he took Cooper's hand. Cooper pulled them both to their feet and then used his grip on Blaine's hand to pull him into a hug.

"C-coop?" Blaine squawked.

Cooper didn't speak. He just held his little brother close. Because that's what Blaine was: he was Cooper's little brother. He'd been stupid to think that anything had to change just because Blaine liked boys. Blaine still had big dreams, still had so much talent, was still destined for greatness. It was still Cooper's job to help him reach those dreams. Nothing had changed except the level of respect Cooper should have for the kid in his arms.

Blaine would have to be brave and strong in the coming years. He'd have to find new friends and fight off a constant wave of hatred. He would need all the support he could get. Cooper felt like an idiot. He'd nearly sent his brother to the sharks alone!

He pulled back and looked at Blaine, who wore a baffled expression. Cooper wasn't a hugging person. There was already a red mark forming on Blaine's left cheek, and it would doubtless swell before the day was out. Cooper frowned.

"Why couldn't you let him hit you somewhere else? A performer's face is their life, Blaine. Never let anyone hit you in the face," he corrected, releasing his brother entirely from his grip.

Blaine blinked at him once, slowly, and then beamed. "Won't happen again," he promised.

Cooper nodded, crossing his arms. "It better not. I can't perform with someone ugly. It just won't happen." He started walking back toward their parents' house, with Blaine trailing a half a step behind him. "Although, perhaps that would make me look better..."

Blaine laughed. "Whatever you say, Coop."

"Not you, though," Cooper emphasized. "You need to...take up boxing, or something. That way no one will be able to lay a hand on you. And especially not your face. Protect your face, Blaine."

Blaine nodded. "Got it."

"I mean it, Blaine. This is serious!"

"I know," Blaine said flippantly.

"Blaine, I don't think you're really listening to me."

"Will you help me tell mom and dad?"

The serious statement knocked Cooper back and he shut his mouth. It only took one glance at his little brother to decide. "Of course. You're my little brother." He smiled. "And a little Cooper Charm goes a long way toward any goal."

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fin.

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Please review and let me know what you think!


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